Monday, October 19, 2009

Playoff Possibilities

The Galaxy head into the final week of the 2009 MLS season in a three-way tie at the top of the Western Conference along with Chivas USA and Houston. All three teams have 45 points, though Chivas USA has a game in hand on the other two sides, playing at Chicago on Thursday and at home against Houston on Sunday, while the Galaxy end their season against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center.

With a win against the Earthquakes, the Galaxy will be guaranteed of a top two spot in the West, meaning that they would host the second leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series against a yet to be determined opponent. That game would be played on the weekend of November 7 or 8.

The Galaxy can finish in first place in the West for the first time since the 2002 season with a win over the Earthquakes, combined with…
• A Chivas USA loss at Chicago on Thursday night
• A Chivas USA win or tie at Chicago on Thursday night AND a Chivas USA loss or tie to Houston on Sunday afternoon.

Additionally, the Galaxy can win the West with a draw against the Earthquakes combined with a Chivas USA loss at Chicago on Thursday night, a Seattle loss or tie at home against FC Dallas on Saturday night and a tie between Chivas USA and Houston on Sunday afternoon.

A Galaxy loss to the Earthquakes would eliminate LA from winning the top seed in the Western Conference and could see the club slip to third or fourth place in the West, which would mean that the Galaxy would host the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series next weekend.

1 comment:

charlesj27 said...

Hoping for the very best at this point. On paper, anyways, our LA Galaxy team should be able to beat SJ Earthquakes at the HDC (our home). I mean, for Bruce and company, and especially ALL of the players this has to be paramount. The results of the two Chivas games can't be determined at this point. Chivas's speed and passing are typically better than ours... but, we tend to organize better for longer durations in both halves (plus, throwing numbers behind defense is a typical ploy of ours, too). I'm hoping that Chivas would definitely lose the AWAY game at Houston. Once again, Western teams down to the wire!